If you had to guess how many schools have at least one assistant coach with a higher salary than Ohio State's top-paid guy, how many do you think it would be?
The answer is 23.
USA Today released its annual list of salaries for assistant coaches Wednesday and some of the numbers might come as a surprise, especially when it comes to the Buckeyes' coaching staff.
| NATIONAL RANK | COACH | TOTAL ANNUAL SALARY |
|---|---|---|
| No. 36 | Luke Fickell | $600,000 |
| No. 38 | Chris Ash | $590,000 |
| No. 49 | Tom Herman | $550,000 |
| No. 109 | Ed Warinner | $400,036 |
| No. 112 | Larry Johnson | $400,000 |
| No. 207 | Kerry Coombs | $300,450 |
| No. 224 | Stan Drayton | $295,000 |
| No. 234 | Tim Hinton | $286,504 |
| No. 525 | Zach Smith | $170,505 |
Ohio State's top paid assistant coach — co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Luke Fickell — comes in as just the No. 34 paid assistant on the list with a total salary of $600,000.
Chris Ash comes in at No. 38 with an annual salary of $590,000 and Broyles Award winner Tom Herman — given to the nation's top assistant for the season — comes in at just No. 49 on the list making $550,000 per year.
The nation's highest paid assistant is Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster, who makes an annual salary of $1,369,500.
Some schools who have at least one higher paid assistant include Louisville, Arizona State, Michigan (two), Virginia, Nebraska, Texas A&M, Maryland, Georgia Tech, West Virginia and Minnesota.
Seems a little shocking, doesn't it?
But the Buckeyes' assistant coaches are actually the eighth-highest paid staff overall with a combined salary of $3,592,025 — the highest in the Big Ten. Schools ahead of them on that list are LSU, Alabama, Clemson, Auburn, Oklahoma, Texas and UCLA. The Buckeyes' counterpart in the Sugar Bowl, makes a collective $5,213,400 as a staff.
It is an interesting topic considering this year's Ohio State staff has to have done one of the top jobs in the country getting this Buckeye team one of the four spots in the first-ever College Football Playoff.
The Buckeyes lost a ton of talent from last year's team — four starting offensive linemen, the two-time Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, All-Americans at running back and linebacker — yet still found a way to win a Big Ten championship and qualify for the playoffs.
This season, Ohio State's coaching staff turned J.T. Barrett into a household name and won a league title with Cardale Jones as the starting quarterback. Its offensive line went from complete disarray after a Week 2 loss to Virginia Tech to one of the top units in the Big Ten. And Ohio State's defense, which ranked 47th last year nationally is 15th overall this year. The improvement from beginning to end has been eye-opening.
"This is the most improved team I've ever been around," head coach Urban Meyer said.
That's in large part to Meyer's ability to get his team to buy what he's selling, but it's also a credit to his staff for developing unproven talent into significant contributors. It's no wonder assistants like Herman and offensive line coach Ed Warinner's names continue to pop up when vacant head coaching jobs become open.
"I like our staff," Meyer said. "I think our staff is a very cohesive staff and the future is very bright."
